'we can't stop looking'
New MH370 debris branded a ‘massive breakthrough’ as victims’ families beg for cash to continue hunt for missing plane
MH370 victims' families have made a "massive breakthrough" in the search for the missing aircraft - unveiling five new pieces of debris found washed up on a beach.
Speaking at a news conference this morning they pleaded for more cash to allow search efforts to continue.
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New debris was held up by Jacquita Gonzales, the wife of MH370 Steward Patrick Gomes, as other relatives begged government officials not to stop looking.
Also leading the presentation was Grace Nathan, daughter of the flight passenger Anne Daisy.
The pair clutched what they claimed were plane parts as they demanded a fresh inquiry into the Malaysia Airlines mystery.
Ms Nathan said: "The fact that debris is still washing up now means that the investigation should still be live. It shouldn't be closed."
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Transport Minister Anthony Loke, who met the next of kin, said the government would consider resuming a search if provided with credible leads.
He said: "We are open to proposals, but we must have some credible leads before we decide."
The jet vanished on the way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board - sparking one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries.
Malaysian and international investigators believe the jet veered thousands of miles off course from its scheduled route before eventually plunging into the Indian Ocean.
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MH370 - WHAT HAPPENED?
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur and was heading to Beijing with 239 people on board.
Passengers included Chinese calligraphers, a couple on their way home to their young sons after a long-delayed honeymoon and a construction worker who hadn't been home in a year.
But at 12.14am on March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines lost contact with MH370 close to Phuket island in the Strait of Malacca.
Before that, Malaysian authorities believe the last words heard from the plane, from either the pilot or co-pilot, was "Good night Malaysian three seven zero".
Satellite "pings" from the aircraft suggest it continued flying for around seven hours when the fuel would have run out.
Experts have calculated the most likely crash site around 1,000 miles west of Perth, Australia.
But a huge search of the seabed failed to find any wreckage - and there are a number of alternative theories as to its fate.
More than 30 bits of aircraft debris have been collected from various places around the world but only three wing fragments that washed up along the Indian Ocean coast have been confirmed to be from MH370.
Yesterday, Ms Nathan described the latest discovery as a "massive breakthrough".
She told the Daily Star: "Five new pieces have been recovered. One of them has part of a label still readable.
"We are hoping this will mean a new search is launched."
The pieces of debris, found in Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, have now been officially presented to the Malaysian government.
In July, investigators released a 495-page report, saying the plane's controls were likely deliberately manipulated to take it off course but they were not able to determine who was responsible.
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But in May, Malaysia called off a three-month search by U.S. firm Ocean Infinity, which spanned 112,000 sq km (43,243 sq miles) in the southern Indian Ocean and ended with no significant findings.
It was the second major search after Australia, China and Malaysia ended a fruitless A$200 million ($144.80 million) search across an area of 120,000 sq km (46,332 sq miles) last year.
But this week mathematician Mike Chillit claimed to have determined the crash location to be further north in the Indian Ocean than originally believed.
Earlier this month a plane crash hunter pieced together satellite image "clues" he believes show the wreckage of missing jet MH370 in the heart of the Cambodian jungle.
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Another recent theory is ‘hackers’ could have ‘unlocked cockpit door and suffocated everyone to hijack missing Malaysian Airlines plane’ according to aviation expert Jeff Wise.
There have been many theories surrounding the mysterious disappearance of flight MH370 including ones that blame Vladimir Putin and North Korea.
Some theorists believe the pilot, Captain Zaharie Amhad Shah, planned the incident.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull unexpectedly said it was “very likely that the captain planned this shocking event”.
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He claimed the pilot wanted to "create the world's greatest mystery".
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had said in May that the country would consider resuming the search only if new clues come to light.
In July, investigators released a 495-page report, saying the plane's controls were likely deliberately manipulated to take it off course but they were not able to determine who was responsible.
MH370 conspiracy theorists think line of ‘crushed trees’ are proof the missing plane crash-landed in the Cambodian jungle
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